September 2010

26 September 2010

Steve Jackson recently posted a well-discussed (read the comments) essay on his blog Our Man in Hanoi wondering about the excesses of wealthy expats and Vietnamese in Vietnam, and where this wealth comes from. As he said, "I can understand poverty here. It’s the wealth I don’t get."

My own response agreed, but I have been more interested in the circumstances of the growing middle class in Viet Nam, since I essentially live under similar conditions here in Ho Chi Minh City.

@caligarn, @saigoninacup, and myself (@layered) recently carried out a short conversation about this topic on Twitter. @caligarn, author of the blog Mẹ Ơi, Việt Nam Ơi stated "But Vietnamese middle income families have a deeply different standard of living to American middle income families, for example." I disagreed with that, citing my own observations, such as the proliferation of home computers in my middle class Saigon neighborhood. @saigoninacup, author of the blog Saigon In A Cup, then pointed out that Vietnamese middle class families usually don't have cars and find it difficult to buy houses, which is true. @caligarn, via @tamkaizen, cited a good website tool to explore these issues: Numbeo, a database of the cost of living for international cities.

@tamkaizen stated that he would be broke in the U.S. with the salary he is making in Viet Nam, which is true if his salary is comparable to Vietnamese middle class salaries. What is important to note is local purchasing power, which means he may be living comfortably on his salary in Vietnam even if it wouldn't be sufficient in America. My own salary here in Viet Nam is lower than what I would make in America, but I sense that I can buy so much more with it here in Viet Nam (except for automobiles and land).

Using the Numbeo website, here are some conclusions about the relative standard of living between America and Viet Nam:

1. According to Numbeo, the median monthly disposable salary (after taxes) in Viet Nam is US$653, while in the United States it is US$2,909, or US$34,908 annually (reported by Wolfram/Alpha to be $33,190 in 2009). I think it is reasonable to assume that the median monthly disposable salary level represents the middle class in both countries. This means that the median salary in the U.S. is 4.45 times the median salary in Viet Nam.

2. Numbeo reports that the Consumer Price Index plus rent in Viet Nam is half of the U.S. index, meaning we can buy a similar basket of goods in Viet Nam for half the price of the same basket in the U.S. However, the World Bank International Comparison Program puts the Price Level Index for Viet Nam at 30 against the U.S. Index of 100. So if prices in the U.S. are three times that of the Viet Nam, but the salaries are 4.45 times higher, the Vietnamese cannot sustain the same standard of living as in America.

3. Because of this disparity between salaries and the price of the common basket of goods, Numbeo reports that local purchasing power in the U.S. is 123.7% higher than in Viet Nam. So I was wrong in disagreeing with @caligarn's contention that Vietnamese middle income families have a deeply different standard of living to American middle income families. They have to have a lower standard of living in order to live within the limits of their income.

4. However, my observation of several items in the Numbeo "basket of goods" leads me to think that the standard of living is more similar than the numbers indicate. I know you can rent a 140 square meter house (3 bedrooms) in a Ho Chi Minh City Vietnamese neighborhood away from inner city districts 1 and 3 for US600/month, while the Numbeo figure is US$1,169 outside the city center. This brings up an important point -- these cost-of-living calculators are targeted towards people who want to relocate to a foreign country and need to calculate their potential costs in order to negotiate salaries and benefits as expat employees. So the expectation is that such a person will want to live in accommodations similar to their home country and amongst other expats. Therefore the costs shown in Numbeo are probably gathered in expat neighborhoods. In Ho Chi Minh City, that includes Thảo Điên or An Phù in District 2, or Phú Mỹ Hưng in District 7. The Vietnamese middle class does not live in those neighborhoods. If you live in a Vietnamese neighborhood, you see a lower price structure for similar goods.

Another way to look at the standard of living issue is the poverty threshold or rate. The poverty rate in a country is "the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living in a given country" (Wikipedia). The adequacy is measured by a basket of basic goods necessary for life, including the obvious food and housing. There are undoubtedly differences in different countries as to what are considered basic necessities. But assuming the CIA uses some consistency, the World Fact Book lists the U.S. at 12% of the population below the poverty threshold in 2004 (probably has risen over the economic crisis), and 12.3% for Viet Nam in 2009. This implies that there is at least some similar starting point for comparing the cost of living between America and Viet Nam.

This is a remarkable achievement for Viet Nam considering the poverty level was 58.1% in 1990.

12 September 2010

It is definitely not minimalist, though. The yellow accent color contrasted with the black facade at the lower floor provide plenty of interest in this composition. Since the lot is skewed to the street, the designer could add articulation in the facade with a projecting side and a receding side. Other than the articulation and the accent colors, this is a very fine simple composition. I would be proud to live here.

Unlike most Saigon houses, the entry floor architecture is part of the composition. Usually the lower floor is a commercial space so the entry facade is totally unrelated to the facade composition above. In this case, the house is not on a commercial street and therefore the entry is an integral part of family life in this house.This house is on 14th Street (Đường Số 14) in District 6 of Ho Chi Minh City.

04 September 2010

Eric Burdette has a very interesting post up on his blog As I See It regarding Pre-'75 Music in Viet Nam. He provides several links to audio files from the Vietnamese music website nhaccuatui.com, and YouTube videos. These files feature various Vietnamese rock bands from the 60s and early 70s. These are generally covers of famous American and British bands and tunes from that period, including the Beatles. These tunes are sung to the original tune with Vietnamese lyrics from translations.

One of the things I think I have learned about Vietnamese in the five years I have lived here is that they are very curious and eclectic. They look for good ideas, and when they find them, they grab them and improve on them. This is the essence of Vietnamese modernist design of houses that I have featured before on this blog (I hope to get back to the subject soon).

I think that is the case with the classic rock music that Eric presents in his posting. This music was played by the Armed Forces Radio station here in Saigon, and recordings were readily available to Americans at the PX's (post exchange) around the country. Whatever could be found in the PX could also be found on the black market, so musically-inclined Vietnamese (and most Vietnamese are very musically-inclined) had many sources for inspiration in the international music of the time flooding the market. In addition, there were many Vietnamese students attending American universities and military schools at the time, and they undoubtedly brought back recordings for their friends in South Vietnam.

But Eric laments that this part of Vietnamese history is not being preserved and that Vietnamese young people today may not know of this music. However I think the fact that this music is available on one of the most popular Vietnamese music websites makes it likely that many Vietnamese young people have played some of these tunes at least once. Some of my young coworkers know the same tunes from more contemporary covers, but do not necessarily know of the bands and singers from the war period. But my coworkers are real hunters and are constantly asking me about American groups from the 50s and 60s that they have found on YouTube. They have probably also found the Vietnamese groups but don't think to ask me about them (and I would not have been able to help them).

Even though I was in Saigon as a naval officer for a year in 1971-1972, I did not hear this music due to the particular circumstances in which I worked and lived. I was living amongst a small group of older American officers and working with older Vietnamese construction contractors and inspectors. What I realize now is that I missed what has turned out to be one of the great productive periods of Vietnamese music.

When I ask my coworkers what kind of music they like, they say they listen to all kinds of Vietnamese and international music, including the famous singers and bands of America. When I ask them what their favorite music is, they often say that it is the pre-1975 music of Trịnh Công Sơn. Most of his 600 songs are melancholy songs of love or are anti-war, sentiments which remain very applicable today. Many of his songs are extremely beautiful and recognizable to anyone that frequents the cafes of Ho Chi Minh City. There is a cafe in Tân Phú District on Au Cơ Street that is named Cafe Trịnh Công Sơn and plays his music and has live singers on weekends.

On the nhaccuatui.com music website, you can find Trịnh Công Sơn music under the label "Nạch Trịnh" under the "Thể loại" tab. This is a Vietnamese-language website only. The database of songs is enormous and intimidating because each song may have been sung by many different singers over the years, and there are different versions by the same singer. One way to start is by choosing a particular singer such as Khánh Ly, Hồng Nhung, or Quang Dũng and clicking through the Trịnh Công Sơn songs performed by them.

Any easier introduction to Trịnh Công Sơn music can be found at the English-language commemoration website Trịnh Công Sơn. Click on the "nhạc" button (RealPlayer required). Another good website is TCS-Home.